In Italian grammar the partitivearticle indicates some part (an unspecified number) of a group or category of things/people; it is formed by the preposition di combined with the definite article, and following a similar pattern, changes according to gender, number and the word that follows Some examples:

For Italian learners, it is likely to mistake the partitive articles for the articulated prepositions, and viceversa. The easiest way to avoid this confusion is making sure you know the other elements of the phrase, so that you can determine yourself if said word is an article or a preposition. For example: